Sunless
by Heirii.Urahara
Summary: The story of Sho and Kei, reinvented. What did the two of them feel, how did everything happen, and what would have happened if they hadn't gone to the beach and watched the sun rise? Rated M for language and violence.
1. Prologue

This is my first story which I have published anywhere. Sadly, I don't own Gackt, Hyde, Moon Child, or anything else.

* * *

The lightning brought him out of the daydream. It had been sunny, warm – a day he experienced long ago. That had been his last day.

Rain pounded the roof and old windows, making them rattle. Sounds of the tap running upstairs would have been inaudible to other ears. _But not to mine._

The other man was in the shower – slender, delicate, and deadly. He had often fooled unwary people, tricked them with beautiful smiles and kind words, consumed them. He had done the same to the man listening to the storm.

That time, the last day, had been a life time ago, and yet he remembered it in vivid detail, but also incredibly vague. The cadence of the sunlight as dusk fell, the exact smell of the air – heavy and expecting rain – the sheen of the other man's clothing, everything. But yet not everything. The chronology was forever lost, forgotten, constantly eluding him. It was a spectre in an ephemeral mist, tantalizing. As with every time that day had wandered into his thoughts, he was forced to try to remember.


	2. My Bonnie

The first actual chapter! I tried to have an interesting blend of the actual movie and my own story line. I wonder if it worked... Probably not.

* * *

"Sir." The dark, burly man got my attention. "It's time to go."

Reluctantly I lowered her back to the ground, kissed her forehead one last time before saying "Go on, Hana. Back with your mother." She smiled up at me, so innocent. So precarious.

The woman, who had been standing back a ways, came forward. She carried a white bundle which became a trench coat as she draped it around my shoulders. We spoke no words – there were no words. Her soft hands fixed the collar, her eyes tried to search mine, hoping to find me there. I looked away, not knowing how to reassure her. This was just how I made my living. Whether or not I came back alive was part skill, part luck, and part who had the better gun. I kissed her on the cheek and stepped back to look at her, the way her raven hair shone. Her eyes were full of hurt; she was lost, and I couldn't help her.

I think she always knew that, but some part of her refused to admit it. She wanted to believe that I was the same starry-eyed boy she had fallen in love with, the one who thought he could do anything. She needed that illusion of compassion and stability – she had a daughter to worry about, but the years had long since robbed me of my disregard for reality and physics. Since the fateful day in the rain – the day Toshi died, the day Kei disappeared – I had lost all conviction except that which could be won from guns and bloodshed.

Toshi's face swam before my eyes as I climbed into the limo, preparing for business. His care-free smile pierced me like a dagger. The gunshot echoed alone in my mind. I felt the car start moving, but I was elsewhere, I was screaming. He was coughing blood, speaking of his mother who had finally come back for him. I didn't know if my eyes were full of rain or tears. Everyone was screaming. But amidst it all, he died. Quietly. That was the day Kei disappeared. And it echoed in my mind every time I went out and might not come back.

I watched the dilapidated skyscrapers fly past and tried to crush the voice inside which was whispering to me. It said I remembered these things because I was afraid. I wasn't afraid. How could I be afraid and still be in such a dangerous line of work? It said I didn't want to die in such a pitiful way. It wasn't pitiful. They cornered Toshi, tied him up. Death by gun was not pitiful. It meant that you were willing to risk everything.

_The day Toshi died. The day Kei left._ How could one day be so bad? Where Toshi and I had grown up together on the streets, orphans, Kei had found us and raised us. Us and my older brother, Shinji. As the years went by, we grew to actually consider each other family. Then we began to notice Kei's secret. While the three of us matured, he had always been the same. I'm sure that that was what drove Shinji to the drugs. The drugs, in turn, brought him to the mafia wannabes, the scum I would be dealing with today. He went to them for money, not caring how much they asked for in return. All he cared about was his next high.

Kei, on the other hand, had been the one to teach me to fight. More importantly, he taught me _why_ to fight. "Sho, you fight to protect." For years I had stayed true to those words. But then he left and I felt the true implications of my mortality. I was just like Toshi. Soft, fragile, always in danger of being ended if I didn't rise above. I worked hard, pushed myself until I gathered some friends and started fighting back. The mafia had always controlled everything, but we took back our lives, our town. We were fighting, not to protect, but to make a point.

Then again, the mafia had never fought to protect, either. They fought to control. Maybe that's why some chose them over my new band of fighters – the mafia had a long reign of success and was not encumbered by moral obligations.

The car slowed and I looked up. The building out the window was instantly recognizable, with the faded awnings over tinted or bricked windows. A few people went in or out the grimy revolving door. I could tell by how they moved and carried themselves that they had secret business to attend to. The harsh daylight made it almost comical – the thought of people scurrying about in broad daylight, trying to keep secrets.

The same dark man that had pulled me away from my family opened the door for me. I pulled the sun glasses from my pocket and got out, gazed up at the building. _ I hope you're more reasonable today, Mr. Chan._

There was some washed up diva singing "My Bonnie" in a terrible, warbling voice. I felt like being a nuisance, so I strolled over to the overstuffed chairs where Chan and his lackeys were lounging and I just sort of stood there, blocking their view. It was a wonderful feeling.

Seeing the growing annoyance on their faces was my cue to sit. I chose an antique couch in front of them. The singing was grating and added an element of edginess to this meeting of sorts.

"Hey," one of them said. "Long time, no see." He paused. "What awful clothes." They all laughed, loud and unrefined. I kept my face resolutely forward, then turned deliberately to the man who I knew would be there – the last one I had any chance to reason with.

"Hello there," I said. He looked in my direction, but ignored me. "How are you? Hey, don't ignore me." My tone became agitated. "So this is what you've reduced yourself to? Their lapdog, guard dog, whatever? What happened to that guy who screamed in their faces because they raped his sister?"

His mouth grew taught and his eyes narrowed. "That shouldn't matter, since _you're_ taking care of her now, right?"

I said nothing, just drew out a cigarette. Without warning, I got quickly to my feet, flipping the trench coat back to reveal how heavily armed I was. The man I had been talking to, Son Tin-Chen, my brother-in-law, drew his gun, ready to fire. My body guard rose nonchalantly with a lighter which he offered to me, and everyone calmed back down.

The song finally ended and Chan's little gang applauded. I was feeling smart again and clapped my hands together slowly, muttering "Oh yeah, oh yeah."

"As wild as ever, I see." Chan just puffed away at his cigar. "Wish I had your energy."

"Mr. Chan, thank you for the invitation." I carefully removed the glasses, the better to give him evil looks. "What's the occasion?"

"Your district has prospered, beyond all dreams. But don't forget – it's not your town."

I laughed. "Then whose town is it?"

"Our town!" he yelled.

I played dumb, or uninterested. It didn't really matter to me.

"Foreigners cause nothing but trouble, but these mainlanders have been smart: they joined us. We want you to do the same."

My eyes clouded over with a haze of hate. "We haven't forgotten. You had our buddy killed!" Son looked visibly uncomfortable at the mention of Toshi's death.

Chan just made a dismissing gesture with his cigar hand – the equivalent of a declaration of war to me. No remorse, no guilt, no nothing over having an innocent by-stander, my best friend, murdered just to make a statement. I walked away, toward the door to leave. Just being in this scum bag's presence had my blood boiling.

"Stop acting like kids," he called after us. "You've got to grow up."

Outside and well away from his arrogant ears, I whispered "It's all just an act, asshole..."


	3. No Hope

For this part, I mixed the scenes where Yi-Che is in the hospital and where Sho goes to identify Shinji's body. As such, the story line is now different from the movie. I hope it worked.

* * *

She got sick. The first sign was the deterioration of her art skills. That was how we met, I saw her painting the mural in the park which was now faded and grafitied. It was cruelly ironic, really. All those years ago she painted the personification of hope, and now she had been diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor.

Her memory was quick to go. Hana and I were constantly at the hospital. I think that was the only reason she remembered us. Hana drew incessantly, she inherited her mother's passion. The nurses and doctors pitied me – they would come in to monitor her medication and condition, and she would call them by names from her past. She thought one nurse was a friend from elementary school, that a doctor was her cousin. I couldn't stand their eyes, so round and full of concern. I didn't need that.

In the winter she got even worse. When I wasn't at the hospital I was at home, pacing around, restless. I couldn't bear to lose anyone else. Toshi. Kei. Shinji was practically an empty shell thanks to the drugs. And I was losing my wife. _It won't happen_, I kept telling myself.

One day, I got a call from the hospital. The nurse sounded very upset. She said I was supposed to come in immediately.

"She's not dead, is she?" My heart seemed to stop.

"No, no... But it won't be long... Don't bring Hana."

The line went dead and I cried silently. _This can't be happening. It can't be happening. _I heard the rustling of Hana's crayons in the next room. _No! I have to be strong!_

I walked over to her with dry eyes. "Hana, daddy has to go out for a little while. Jun is coming over to look after you. Okay?" She just smiled serenely and nodded, never distracted from her flowers.

As I walked out the door, I made the arrangements with Jun, another of my comrades, over the phone. He agreed without hesitation and I was left to myself, crying all the way to the hospital.

I arrived puffy and emotional. The staff knew me by now, Yi-Che had been ill for months. They showed me to her room for what must have been the millionth time.

She was breathing hard, even on the respirator. My absence had taken its toll – she seemed not to recognize me. Again, I had nothing to say. I had always been terrible at this sort of thing; so much of my life was making lightning-quick decisions, cheating death, no words required.

I heard the door open again. I thought it was just the nurse until I heard her say "Father, you're alive after all." I looked up to see Son in the doorway.

He was shaken, I could tell, to see his sister on her death bed. "I'm happy to see you well." His voice cracked.

"This is the first time you've met. Kei, say hello to my father."She looked up at me, standing by the window, but neither Son nor I heard her, both lost in thought.

Kei had always fancied her, this I knew. I was constantly competing with him for her affection. Truth be told, for the longest time I was losing. She wouldn't date either of us, but we were fine with that. We could be patient when we had to. I bought her flowers, but he was the one who could make her smile. One time, at the beach – it was night, the only time Kei could be outdoors – Toshi, Son, Yi-Che, Kei and I, all of us were rolling around in the sand and having a good time. Toshi pulled out a camera and rounded us up to take a picture. Yi-Che wouldn't smile, she was quite recently traumatized by the mafia. Kei coaxed a smile out of her. The picture was all I had left of Toshi and Kei, and good memories of Son. Soon, it would be all I had of Yi-Che, and then all Hana would have of both of us. _Don't think like that! _

But all joking and reminiscing aside, it hurt me greatly, that in her delusional last moments, it was Kei who she was married to, Kei who was the father of our daughter – Kei, who deserted us both.

The beeping of her heart monitor brought us back. I couldn't think. Doctors pushed past us. Nurses ushered us out of the room. I found myself in front of her closed door, hearing frantic shouting from within. Son was somewhere behind me, I was dimly aware. He was silent.

"I had no idea. I'm sorry."

Through my tears I managed to gasp "You walked out on us, on your friends, on your family, taking the easiest way out. How else can I say it?"

He was quiet for a while. "Chan said we Taiwanese have to rely on ourselves. I joined him to protect my people."

Something in what he said touched a nerve. _Sho, you fight to protect._ But this was corruption of Kei's words, it had to be. "You joined the group that killed Toshi! How come you're alive and Toshi is dead?! And Yi-Che is probably dead?!" I pulled my gun and fired randomly, missing him and all personnel in my rage.

"You went your way, I went mine. That's all it was." He started to walk off, his steps loud in the silence brought by my gun.

"Next time we meet," I said over my shoulder, "will be at gun point." I left a different way before they could throw me out and before they could see me crying yet again.

The car trip back to the house was utter misery. I didn't need the doctor's confirmation to know – I had known all along, had know from the beginning. _Yi-Che is dead._ I opened the door without drying my eyes. There would be no use pretending. Hana came running to greet me, then saw my face. She must have know, too, somewhere deep inside. Despite being so young, she was so resilient, always trying to be the optimist. Throughout her mother's hospital stay, Hana had plastered the room with bright cards.

Jun heard us, I guess, and only came into the room so I would know he hadn't left. He avoided my gaze. They had left the television on, it was blaring. Carrying my crying daughter, I went into the next room, intending to turn the television off, but the breaking news story stopped me.

"...He has been in prison the past few months. So far, four bodies have been recovered with the cause of death for all four victims from blood loss due to a large gash in the neck."

I put Hana down, staring intently at the screen.

"Although the identity and possible motives remain undisclosed, the man, known only as the present-day vampire, has made several death sentence pleas. The police have been unable to obtain any personal information concerning the suspect, and the case is now being handled through the International Police Organization." A profile picture of Kei appeared on the screen and I gasped. Neither Jun nor Hana knew him, so they were in the dark. I had to go see him somehow.

"Um, thank you, Jun, you may go now." He left in a puzzled daze. I ran around the house collecting my thoughts and several brochures for private schools all over the world. Yi-Che and I had saved them all, in case we would ever need to send Hana elsewhere for her safety.

I made several phone calls and started packing.


	4. In Prison

The prison warden led me into a small room, divided in half by a glass wall. On both sides were table and chairs. I sat uncomfortably, nervously adjusting my cuffs and smoothing my hair.

The door in the opposite room opened and another guard led Kei in, chained him to the chair, then left. Kei stared off into space, oblivious to me. He looked different, of course. The blond hair which used to be perfectly slicked back was now shaggy around his face. His eyes had lost all of the spirit they once held. He seemed more of an empty shell than Shinji.

"You don't look too bad" I lied. He didn't say anything. I didn't know what I had expected, but the following awkward silence was not it. "It's been nine years, I counted on the way here. How do I look?" I tugged the brown suit and attempted a smile, then reached inside and held up a photo. "Look. It's my daughter. Her name is Hana. She's six."

He wasn't looking at me or the photo. I was starting to feel uncomfortable. "Kei, I married Yi-Che." Why I was telling him all of this, I still don't know. "She was unsure at first. I guess it's because she liked you so much. Then you left us... I kept asking, wouldn't give up. I tired myself out. She wasn't happy at first, but then things were good... Until she died." I was getting nowhere. "Look, Kei." I held Hana's picture up to the glass, pressed it to the glass. "Please look. She's our kid. I know all dads are proud, but..."

Kei was still looking away at the floor. I imagine he truly hated me then. "I always hoped you'd get to see her. You, above all." He finally raised his gaze to the picture in my hand, still didn't say anything. I sighed, relieved.

"How is everyone?" It was the first time I'd heard his voice in nine years. It was the same as always.

"Good. I have a bar. I'm a big shot, man about town." My face contorted in sadness as I replaced the photo of my daughter.

"What about Son?"

I sighed. "Son, he... He joined the local mafia, to be with his own people." It was my turn to be silent.

"I'm glad you're still alive. You were reckless. I'd figured you'd already be dead. But I'm glad you're not." He smiled and I smiled back.

Later, the prison warden questioned me about his past, but there was nothing to tell. I didn't know anything. He told me that Kei's execution was soon. I left.

I met long faces and tears upon my return. While I was away, the mafia had killed my entire gang in a drive-by. I was right to have sent Hana off to school. They had taken everything I loved, everything dear. Once I was alone, free of all the consoling faces, I just lay in bed staring at the ceiling in agony. I would make them pay, Chan, Son, all of them. Shinji, who somehow remained alive, had said that it was all my fault, that it wouldn't have happened if I had stayed here, not gone chasing after "that monster." He knew Kei very well for what he was, as did I, but for some reason I had no trouble with it. I had shouted, called Shinji absolutely useless. I think I actually got through to him that time; he went for a walk, he said, with a very serious expression. I thought nothing of it, his odd habits were numerous.

I woke the next day to a call from the police. Shinji had gone and gotten himself killed. I had to go identify his body. I was physically ill before I left. _This is too much!_ There were far too many hollow spaces in me now, bereft of everyone I had known.

At the station, I ran into Son. Apparently, he was Shinji's killer, but charges were not being pressed because Shinji had drawn a gun on Son's boss, Chan. He never would have fired, I know that. He was probably too high to locate the trigger. Besides, he was too gentle, in spite of his rough lifestyle. I would have tried to kill Son then and there, but there were too many people around. I left quickly, the atmosphere was stifling.

I had no one. Nothing. My wife, brother, and best friend were dead. My daughter was safely out of the country. The only person I knew who was still alive was Kei, in prison, and scheduled for execution. I was desperate. I dialed the prison and requested to talk to him. The warden answered.

"I usually don't allow it," he said, "but it's you."

I could hear the phone being handed to Kei. He didn't say anything, but I know he knew it was me.

"Kei, I'm alone." My voice cracked. "I need your help." All my efforts to the contrary, I started crying softly. The phone was handed back to the warden.

"His execution is tomorrow." With that, he hung up. Dumbfounded, I listened to the dial tone for minutes afterward.

_Everyone is gone._ Memories drifted out from nowhere. The night Kei and I met Son we had been raiding a mafia supply center. We stumbled upon Son completely by accident. We had no choice but to join forces, the mafia outnumbered us greater than any of us had imagined. Toshi was there. He was the one who made the drugged pizzas and fed them to the guards so we could get in. In the middle of a gun fight he had ducked behind a desk to answer his phone. It was a work call, someone was placing an order. "Hello, hello. Happy Pizza! How may I help you?" He listened intently to the customer. "Yes, okay. One anchovy and the other? _Hey! _Can I get some quiet here?!" Several shots were fired at him in answer.

I followed Son out onto the street, he was chasing the guy in charge. He rounded a corner and swept the area, but the guy shot him in the leg from behind. I had never seen Son in such a rage. Once he got his hands on a gun, the guy was dangerous.

That night he took us home to his sister, to tend to all of our wounds. It was the second time I saw Yi-Che. From the beginning I thought she was beautiful, but while she cleaned the bullet graze on my arm I learned just how gentle she was. The memories were too much, and I cried myself to sleep.

I awoke at an odd hour. I checked the clock and it said 12:36. I was still shaken. I needed air. The park sounded like a good place to go – fresh, crisp air; the moonlight; Yi-Che's mural. I put on my shoes and headed out.

There was a cotton candy vendor. My stomach rumbled, so I bought some. I hate everything sweet, but it would make do. The mural rose from the grass all around, still brilliant even with the vandalism, at least to me. I turned and saw a man in a bright red sweatshirt. He smiled at me, blond hair slicked back and eyes twinkling with mischief. My heart felt funny and I felt faint. "Kei." He greeted me with our gesture like old times.

We went home, and I started being an idiot. "Kei, you told me about how that guy drank your blood... stopped just before you died, and turned you into a vampire. I want you to turn Yi-Che into a vampire."

He turned to look at me. "What? Sho, you said she died."

"I know! But can't you just try?" My eyes teared up.

"There's no way I'd do that to her! You're just being selfish."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I wanted to save my wife, and I was selfish? "How?!"

"I curse my life! I hate this person who feeds on others!" He looked at me meaningfully, but I wasn't understanding. "I'm a monster! I can't condemn her to that."

I knew it was pointless, I knew it was impossible, but I had to try. I trudged over to the draped window, ripped it open. Kei shielded himself with his arms, then realized it was dusky and raining. "Hey, Kei. Remember, it rained like this the day Toshi died." We were both quiet and thoughtful, then I took the gun off the table, handed it to him. "I'm going to kill Chan. You're coming, too. Let's have fun like before." Without a word, Kei took the gun from my hand.


	5. To Cry

And here we get introduced to Kei's point of view.

* * *

He turned the knob, stopping the water. The glass had all fogged over, but he wiped clear a small patch in front of his face. Eyes identical to his own stared back at him and he laughed. _Yes, I still have a reflection._

The other man was thinking downstairs, he could smell it. It wasn't as obvious as when mortals thought, but he could still smell his best friend's depression. _So sensitive, like always._ He grabbed the towel and wrapped it around his pale waist then gazed into the still-foggy mirror.

* * *

A young boy had found me. He looked at me through large eyes, eyes both seeing the world and its people idealistically, but also pessimistically. The boy reached for my watch. I could tell that he was one of those homeless orphans, going for the shiny watch.

I slapped his hand away and he jumped a mile in the air. I guess I looked pretty dead.

A searing pain in my hand told me that the building's roof was terrible. His eyes grew wide as he saw the flesh on my hand burn and char. _Yeah, kid. This is completely normal._

"Are you okay?"

I didn't reply, the pain was too much. The kid ran off. I thought he left me for dead when everything went dark around me. The dark was coarse and itchy. _I'm in a blanket. Huh..._ He pushed me onto what I had to assume was a make-shift sled, dragged me away somewhere. I couldn't move, couldn't protest, I was far too weak. I needed blood.

The blanket came off. I was inside another abandoned building, this one with a better roof. There were two other boys. While the one who found me was vainly trying to get me to eat this disgusting-looking goop stuff, it looked like the others were trying to open something. The shorter one kept trying to pry whatever it was open, the taller one said "You'll never get it like that! You need a wire." He turned to get something and the obnoxious one smashed whatever it was with a rock.

"I did it! Sho, Shinji! I did it!"

I saw it before any of them did. A tall man with a gun came out of the shadows, shot the tallest in the leg.

"Sho, run!"

Sho, the one who found me, and the other took off, leaving the one called Shinji to writhe on the ground. He clutched his leg, screaming.

"You little Jap bastards! Stealing from _us_!" He stooped to gather the cash and broken case.

I could hear Sho shouting far away somewhere. "Toshi! Toshi!" _So the other one is called Toshi._

I didn't know why I moved, or even how I was able to move. I didn't know why I cared. I told myself afterward that I just needed blood. Whatever the reason, I was on top of the man who shot Shinji and I sank my teeth deep into his neck. He struggled, brilliantly so. I guess that was all the mafia was good for.

Shinji scrambled out of the room, completely afraid of me. He left quite a blood trail. It heightened my madness and frenzy. I feasted upon the attacker with such ferocity that he was dry within minutes.

"Sho, don't go in! Your 'friend,' he's a monster! Sho! Sho!" Shinji was screaming outside and apparently Sho was paying him no attention. I raised my head to look at him. My mouth was glistening.

"Aren't you afraid?"

He shook his head 'no.' We smiled at each other. This kid and I were going to get along.

Many years later, once Sho had grown into a fine young man, I woke up panting. He was sitting beside the futon, not looking at me, just staring off into space. He reeked of bitter thought.

"It was that dream again, wasn't it?" He clasped and unclasped his hands, looking at the floor. His concern, though not unpleasant, still bothered me.

I left the bed and poured a glass of water, captivated my the clearness of it. I didn't drink it, of course. "I'm fine. Sometimes I can't bear it – draining the lives of others – so I go without. Heh, a starvation diet."

"But you're so weak –"

"Should I drink yours?! You know what that's like? That's my entire life."

He rolled his eyes. "Not this again!"

"Let's spend time apart. Don't adjust your life to mine. Enjoy yourself while you can, before you get old. Remember, I won't age." I was hoping he'd see my logic, why staying near me would only bring both of us misery. But no one's ever blamed Sho of being the brightest one out there. We both stayed in silence, fuming. However, he was impulsive and I knew he was about to say something.

"Mallepa is full of immigrants, different races, all coming and going, minding their own business. And that's how we get along!" He slid down the wall and sat on the floor, his eyes tearing up.

I didn't really pay attention to his outburst. He couldn't possibly understand the burden of immortality. "Now I'm having fun with all of you, but it's not real! You're growing up. I'll be left behind. Sho, one day, you'll die - but I'll keep living. You think that's fun?! I've fed on some many evil men... I'm becoming like them. I might turn on you." Although he was silent, I knew what my words had done. I hadn't meant to hurt him.

"As if you'd dare. Jerk."

"Sho..." My voice was softer now as I walked over to him. His face shone. I hugged him to me. "You just cry now. You just cry."


	6. In the Rain

More from Kei. This is the day in the rain when Toshi dies. It's a rather short chapter.  


* * *

I gazed out the window, hoping the clouds would get thicker. The invitation in my hand was dated today, for the opening ceremony of Yi-Che's mural. Of all days – the one which was supposed to rain but didn't.

I wanted to be there, I needed to be there. It was my duty, almost, to applaud her louder than anyone else. I had to, or Sho would certainly take the lead. I smiled to myself. I had been alive, or something like it, far longer than he thought. How he hoped to succeed in love against me, I didn't know. He was definitely brave for trying.

I had just resigned myself to staying home and making it up to her later when I felt something. Something was just – wrong. I snatched the raincoat by the door and sprinted toward the park.

The arrival was just in time. Two mafia thugs had Toshi all bound up, Sho and the others were hiding in the trees. I tackled the two brutes, trying to give Toshi time to escape. The idiot, though, tried to be brave and copied me. They shot him in the leg.

"Toshi! Toshi! Let me go!" Son had grabbed Sho around the waist to keep him from doing anything stupid.

"You kids pushed your luck too far, and now you're gonna learn a lesson!" They were still winded from being knocked down, but they certainly seemed dangerous, for mortals. "No punk kids mess with us!"

It was then that I recognized the two. They had been at the supply center. Talk about a grudge.

Toshi was yelling at them again. They aimed their guns, ready to pull the trigger. I leaped from my hiding place, sending them rolling again. One was quick to his feet, ran over to where I lay on the ground from the force of the impact. Toshi scrambled between us, raised his hands pretending he had a gun. He was crying.

"Bang! Bang!" Still the mafia guy stood, unphased by the verbal bullets. He raised his very real gun and fired.

"Toshi!"

I got up, jumped behind one of them as the other fired at me. He killed his own man. I ran into the bushes. The remaining thug now had a bone to pick with me, so he followed. _My friend, you just signed your own death warrant._ As he chased me, I heard the others crying over Toshi. _Fool._ I stopped running and waited. I was much faster than mortals. As soon as the guy entered the little clearing I had found, I was upon him. The blood was sweet and warm, so intoxicating after going without for so long. I lost track of time. I could have been feeding for a few seconds, and hour, a year when Sho called out "Kei. Kei! Please stop."

From the corner of my eye I saw Yi-Che. She was horrified by what I was. I knew this, yet I couldn't stop. I needed the blood. I craved the blood. It felt like my body was growing tougher by the second. This rush – why I had ever forgone it, I couldn't recall.

"Kei! Toshi died!" Sho was in pieces. I could smell it over even the fresh blood emanating from my mouth. "Kei, stop it!"

Suddenly the voice I was so used to was gone. I looked up. It was pitch black. The corpse at my knees was greying. I had obviously been here for hours. I felt queezy. _Drank too much... Damn._ In spite of my insides wanting to burst, there was a hollow spot somewhere. Sho was gone. I couldn't go home and face him, not after how I had acted.

The high from the blood had since dissipated. I felt wretched again, like I always did after realizing I had taken a life. And Yi-Che – _what would she think of me now?_ I grimaced. Immortals inadvertently made problems for themselves, like Luka, my friend from long ago. He just lost the will to keep living. He sat out on the beach one morning, ready to die. The sun came up, and...

I had to clear my head. I vacated the park, not knowing if I would ever be coming back.


	7. To Fight

This is the last chapter of movie story line.

* * *

The two of us were walking in some building. I had just escaped from prison and Sho had told me that I was coming to help kill Chan whether I wanted to or not. It was still noon, but he had promised me that we would be staying inside. "Kei," he said. "If I die, will you look after Hana? Without me, she'll be an orphan." He thought for a moment. "Just like me."

"I'll think about it. But that's not going to be an issue, because you won't die," I said pointedly.

He walked off into the labyrinth of rooms of which we had no knowledge without so much as a backward glance. _Confident, isn't he?_ Almost immediately we ran into opposition. We both stood our ground for a while and returned fire, then I ran and hid behind a pillar. Sho, however, remained out in the open.

"Sho, you idiot! Take cover!" He didn't listen to me. "Do you _want_ to die?!"

He just pressed onward, a maniacal glint in his eye.

"Look right!"

Without much effort, he disposed of the guy I had seen lurking behind a wall.

"Kei! Accurate directions, like before!" This was one determined guy. He took a shot to the right arm, and still he kept fighting. He took a shot to the left arm, and still I was hiding.

Son walked out from a corridor, had Sho in front of his gun. Sho had him in his own, likewise. "This slaughter can't be much fun for you," Son said. "Let's fight man to man."

"Gladly."

Was Sho out of his mind? Son was completely uninjured, he was fresh. Sho had a bullet in both arms. Slowly and surely he got to his feet and Son lowered his gun. I looked on in utter disbelief. My friend was just throwing his life away. He seemed to know what I was thinking and picked up one of the dead guards' machine guns. With visible pain he fired through the roof many times, riddling it with holes. The sunlight rushed in, blinding me, promising death for me. I leaped back into the shadows. He stood there calmly, staring into the light. His resolve alone frightened me more than I had ever been in my long and unnatural life.

"What are you doing?! What's going on?!" All I got in reply was Sho and Son walking away, leaving me trapped by these insubstantial bars.

I stayed in my invisible prison for an eternity, until two hoodlums noticed me. They looked a bit trigger happy. Sure enough, the next moment I was lying on the ground with bullet holes in my chest, but I bled relatively little. I always hated being shot. I had felt that way the very first time, and still felt that way after the millionth time. In a rush of anger I flew threw the spears of light and into the boys. The looks on their faces: priceless. I finished them and ran on. _Sho, what are you doing?!_

I searched for a long time. This building was huge. Damn Chan, having such a large hideout. I passed a sign. _'Due for demolition. Making way for Mallepa Towers, subsidized housing.' _Oops.

They were in a smaller room. Son was standing over a gasping Sho, just looking at him. There was a new bullet hole in him. _Idiot!_ "How could you?!"

Son looked at me with a blank expression. I could smell the rotten stink of his thoughts, corrupted. "This is our destiny." He raised his gun at me, to finish the job. I forgot my past, forgot everything. I only knew this standing man as my enemy, and lashed out with a rage that cannot be described. He toppled into a heap on the far side of Sho. _Sho._

He lay on the dirt ground, clutching his heaving chest. Thoughts of everyone flashed before my eyes. Yi-Che. Toshi and his blasted camera. Sho rolling around. Son laughing with us. My mind came to focus on the night at the beach. It was a beautiful night, made even more so by having all of my friends there. At that time, we would have all died for one another. Such simple lives we led.

"Alright! Everyone, get together!" Toshi was shouting to us from the car, fiddling with the dated contraption. He pressed a button and ran to join us. We all plastered a smile onto our faces, not that they weren't real. I noticed Yi-Che beside me. Although she had been part of the pointless celebration that night, I knew her heart wasn't in it. Her hope and innocence had been wrenched from her. I put my arm around her shoulders.

"Sometimes," I said, "it's okay to smile."

She did, and the flash went. That night, back at their place, we developed the picture in the bathroom. We all stared at the finished thing for hours. Sho and I probably stared at the same person, she was so beautiful and smiling so genuinely. _Sho._

I came back to the present. He was still heaving. "Sho. What happened?" He coughed up blood and I tried to apply pressure to the wound in his chest, but it kept bleeding.

"Everyone's gone," he gasped. "Don't forget our promise." He raised a bloody hand to the heavens, which I grabbed and held tightly.

"Sho, don't die! _Sho!_" Silence. "Stay with me!" He was still as death. "_Don't leave!_" Then I made the most difficult decision of my entire life.


	8. Epilogue

This is just some vampire cuteness, really. And if my translation of _Orenji no Taiyou_ is off, I apologize.

* * *

The two of them lounged in the drawing room, reveling in the night.

"Hey Kei. You knew what I was thinking, right?" Kei nodded. They shared a look which said each knew everything about the other. "Then, you won't be surprised when I ask you to sing that song again, the one Luka taught you."

Kei's eyes twinkled. "So predictable, Sho." As Kei began to sing, Sho nodded off to sleep. He only caught the first few lines.

_We watched the setting sun, a perfect orange glow,_

_Both about to cry for our final farewell._

Kei stopped singing soon after, not wanting to wake his friend. "Sleep is a luxury for vampires," he muttered. He walked through the house, still thinking back on those days. From afar they had always watched over Hana. They attended her graduation, the opening ceremony for her restoration of Yi-Che's mural in the park. They watched her always from the shadows, Sho unable to bear the thought of her finding out his new nature. Many times he had asked Kei to personally take care of her. "But then she'd still know of vampires," he had said. Sho was in anguish, torn between his mortal duties as a father and his immortal hatred of his new self.

Having made a circuit of the place, Kei returned to Sho's side. "You always tried so hard," he said. "Life wasn't fair to you. I didn't understand for the longest time why you wouldn't join me at the beach, why you forbade me to go to the beach and watch the sun rise. I didn't understand why we competed so fiercely over mundane things. But then I learned." He strode off down the hallway again to wait for nightfall.

That night, soon after sundown, Sho came running. "Kei! Did you bite me again last night?"

Kei looked up from his book, puzzled. "No, I don't _think_ so. Why?"

Sho bared his neck. "Look! Bite marks!" A light bulb flicked on in the back of Kei's mind. He started to laugh. "What? What is it?" Sho was clearly agitated by his friend's lack of empathy.

"That's not a new bite mark." Kei smiled. "That is where I bit you all those years ago." He collapsed into fits of laughter again.

"And what's so funny about that?! An ancient bite mark is _bleeding_ again!"

"That only happens when vampires fall in love." Sho blushed. "I wonder who that lucky person could be?"

A memory flickered into life in Sho's head. Long, long ago, before Toshi died, Kei had appeared randomly in a monstrous black turtle neck. They all questioned him about it as he usually wore low collared shirts. He avoided all the questions, instead ridiculing them for ridiculing him over his fashion choice. Some little feeling in his mind told Sho that Kei's neck had, indeed, been bleeding that day.

"Hey, wait!" Kei had retreated halfway down the hallway, smiling to himself. "What's that supposed to mean?!" Sho ran after him and Kei broke into a run, laughing his head off for the first time in centuries.


End file.
